Syd for 1000m grudge match. BYO KFC :D

fo' sure

I will sort tickets tomorrow. How many do youse both want?

Roll up roll up, see the KFC kid beat the sauerkraut king!

2 for me.

Hey lads, sorry to interupt.

have a question for you all. There is a mgpie (Think it is anyway) that has been attacking anyone coming up or down the street. I live at the bottom of Torrington road in Maroubra/Lurline Bay, it's a very common ride in the Estern subs. You easily hit 50k's down the hill, so swerving all over the place can get pretty full on.

How can I get rid of this little fecker? It swooped at my helmet this morn about 8 times and I was in front of a school bus going up the hill.

Oh yeah, I don't have a frame pump or I would have been done with it by now.

Paint eyes on the back of your helmet. They wont swoop when they think you're looking at them. ;)

does it actually hit wood ever? If not, just ignore it or use the eyes trick, I have seen cloth/lycra helmet covers with eyes on it.

Fark I hate the bastids that get good and nip your ears as you're hooting along. Fark it hurts and scares the sh1te out. Though respect to any bird who get's that good at what they do. ;)

Cheers, It wasn't there this morn, but I now have to ride to work so we'll see. Don't really want to paint my helemt, it's a shiny met stavdaris (whatever they are called). has pointy bits on the back that if I throw my head back at the right time might scare it off.

I always thought any small animal that had the balls to go a human was ok.

Is there anywhere to chain up our bikes?

for you, yes there is. You can even draft my car on the way down if you like, motorpacing practice.

Hey was_bmxer, here's some crapola on magpies from my old blogsite:

The trouble with magpies
---------------------------------
Yesterday was a beautiful riding day. Setting off in the relative cool of the late afternoon I met my first magpie within about 20mins. On my second circuit I avoided that maggie, only to meet another one 10mins up the road. By the end of the weekend I had been swooped about a dozen times, one lasting for 800 metres!

These magnificent birds are a little aggressive to bike riders during their breeding season in August/September. They will swoop on a bike rider because we travel at what a magpie considers to be an aggressive speed, as if they were going to prey on their young.

A bike rider cannot increase speed to avoid attacks. The only way to avoid or terminate an attack is to go slower, usually by getting off the bike and walking. For us in training this isn't a realistic option, so we need to trick the magpie into thinking he (only the male swoops) has been seen. An effective way of doing this is to hold you gloved hand above your helmet and twisting it like an emu's head.

Often times you will be swooped before you know it, because magpies [EDIT] almost [/ EDIT] always swoop from high up and behind. Sometimes you will be alerted to an attack by a loud clacking sound next to one of your ears. These are warnings, and you get just three of them. Sometimes the magpie gets it wrong (or is that right!) and you end up with a bloodied and painful ear.

Don't ever look for the attacking magpie, you might accidentally cop a beak in the eye. This usually results in blindness, but its not the fault of the magpie (or you). If the sun is behind you you can watch for the magpies shadow approaching yours. Its shadow will appear light grey as it hovers high above you, then it will darken and increase in size as it divebombs you. Keep your hand up and wave it from left to right as the maggie gets closer. Don't forget to stay on the road and out of the way of traffic (drivers usually slow down behind you to watch the attack in bloodthirsty anticipation, and get a great kick out of your evasive antics).

And for those who didn't know: Magpies are a protected species, you must not try to harm them. They also mate for life, so removing an aggressive male creates many problems for the birds (so councils are now usually reluctant to do anything!)

Your best bet is to avoid them by taking an alternate route.

Check out:

http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_con...dlife/magpies/
http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribb...02/default.htm
http://www.nisu.flinders.edu.au/pubs...s/magpies.html
http://www.heartbeat.net.au/article.php?id=1051

Man, is it Maggie season already? I was going to do my big hilly loop up into the Dandenongs and there's FIVE maggie spooping areas during that one.

It might be the first day of Spring, but fark it's cold. I can see my breath and my hands are a lovely shade of blue.

On another topic, you guys need to wish me luck. It's now 8 days before the Melbourne 12hr Enduro, so far this week I've been for one training ride, my new race frame is stuck in Customs, the forks are still at the Manitou factory, the parts are leaving the US today, and my cat is going in for surgery this afternoon.

:eek:

ah good old magpie season. as a kid ther was a magpie on my parents property that would specificly seek me out, everyone else was ok, but soon as i stepped out that door, he was there!

Worries me a bit on the M2 getting clouted when theres lots of 100kph traffic around. got hit a good one last year on the MTB flying fown a hill in lane cove nat. old grey one, hit me so hard i came off the bike,a nd it took a 2 CM chunk out of my helmet.

I agree with jock though, pain in the asses they are, but they should be protected and looked after. For a laugh go to the city down near dymocs next to australia square and watch thm take on the joggers and lawyers.....

My uncle dropped into to our place one evening after his daily visit to the pub. His handkerchief was covered in blood, and he said he'd been attacked. Mum immediately thought the worst and was very concerned... until he fessed up that the attacker was a local maggie! :)

Cheeky old bugger he was. Band-aid and a rum fixed him up, and then he was on his way, although i'm sure he would've loved to have stayed for another rum :D

and good luck on the Enduro Thylacine :p I'd wish your cat well, but I'm not a cat lover.

Were you out at h'bush last night? had a look for you but didnt see you there.

No I did Dawn Patrol (thanks for reminding me :( ) instead.

Should be out there each wednesday night until the end of October when track season starts.

why is your race frame in customs? don't you build your own?

bummer about the cat but the magpies will be happy about it.

When you movin to the big smoke :p

Faark, don't talk about the pollution. Man there was sooooo much traffic this morning. Lights on the bloody Pathetic Hwy were not kind either, so even more fumes than normal as the cagers planted it hard on each green. Could almost get a full meal from the amount of carbon, benzine rings, NOx, Hydrocarbons, and Ozone hanging in the air. I often wonder how much damage it's doing to my lungs. :eek:

should see you out there then. ill jsut be rolling around doing base. was aa absolute glamour out there last night, tall dark brown haired goddess, made it easy to follow and pick up a draft! :D

Take care... that hazy lighting can play tricks on your eyesight! :D

I'm sure I'll see you from time to time, but I'm under the hammer between 6:00 and 8:30 so best time to catch up for a yak is before 5:45. I'm usually warming up from about 5:00

no owrries, im normally out there from 4.45 so if i see a blue gitane ill be sure to say hi.... and make a fool of myself when its some other dude....

LOL. I'll be easy to spot, being one of the very few riders in black shorts and a peleton shirt. And I've never seen another blue gitane in all the time I've been out there.

Hey climbo, birdfluboy, did you see the post on topica from Smits. Faaaark. Must've been one heavy duty dose of pneumonia to land him in hospital for a week.